Here is a beautiful tribute to Mohawk from his mom, Donna Hairston. Mohawk was born in Muncie, Indiana and was one of a litter of five (two females and three males). We adopted him from our breeder in December 2003 after our first German shepherd crossed the rainbow bridge in April 2003 (Chama was 13 ½). I fell in love at first site at this big; majestic guy. He looked so goofy because he had the pads in his ears to have them go straight. He had the biggest ears of any dog I have ever seen in my life. He was 8 months old and already 75 lbs. The breeder had told us he was crate trained. We met in Ohio and headed south to Florida. This was an interesting trip to say the least. Mohawk threw up on me and peed on me (so I guess you can say we bonded at the start). We stopped overnight at a Microtel Hotel. In the meantime, I had been trying my best to get Mohawk to go potty. This was not happening. Well we guess he could not hold it anymore and took a dump in the hotel room. The hotel staff was very understanding because they gave us another room for the night. Mohawk slept on the floor right next to me. We arrived in Panama City, FL and the real fun began with this big handsome guy. He was kenneled trained to go potty; not leash trained. It took me three straight days and nights to finally get him to go potty in the backyard. I was so excited I poured myself a glass of wine. We tried to crate him. Mohawk was not having any of that. He would hit the crate and whine to get out. He managed to get out of the crate three times. We almost renamed him Houdini. Mohawk was my constant companion I even tried to get him to run with me. Well one day, he decided that he was not going to be my running partner. He wiggled out of his collar and went back home. So that was the end of that. Mohawk did not like anyone near me (he was pretty protective of his momma). He literally was my shadow. We were like synchronized swimmers (when I moved; he moved at the same time). He did have a serious case of colitis (which we thought we were going to lose him). One of his sisters’ succumbed to this. After Mohawk turned eight years old we discovered he could not grip the tile on the floors and was dragging his back paws. We took him to our vet. We were fortunate to have the associate vet who trained under Dr. Clemons that is very knowledge in Degenerative Myelopathy. Our vet printed out the information. I took this home and read it. Let’s just say I cried and cried for hours. How could this be? This is my buddy; my heart and soul with fur. I stumbled upon the DM page and let’s just say it really educated me a lot and I have met many friends who have become family for me. Since Mohawk had a sensitive tummy; we (after speaking with Dr. Clemmons), opted not to put him on the regimen of all the medications. We were sent a cart (from Gwen Watson). I ordered a longer bar and had it fitted for Mohawk. He wasn’t having any of that. A help me up harness was also sent to me for Mohawk’s use (Cindy Richard). He didn’t want that on either. He was so proud that he didn’t want anything to help him. We knew stress accelerates DM and there were many stresses that Mohawk had to deal with. January 2013, Mohawk ended up with a high fever; pads on his back paws rubbed raw and lost a lot of weight (he had been in the kennel and the involuntary kicking of the back legs caused this). He stayed for a couple of days at the vet. We almost lost him then. He was a fighter and refused to give up. April 9, 2013, my hubby was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident. Mohawk felt my stress from my going back and forth from the hospital and the rehab center every day for seven weeks. I cried in Mohawks fur every night. If it wasn’t for Mohawk; I probably would have lost it. After my husband got home; that is when I noticed the downward spiral in his condition. I constantly watched his eyes and his body language. I decided that I would take a full week before I made a decision to just devote the entire time to Mohawk and I. I watched him constantly and I slept beside him every night on his second orthopedic bed. After that week and with lots of prayer and talking with hubby, we decided it was time to set Mohawk free on his journey to the Rainbow Bridge. We just could not stand seeing our boy suffer any longer. Once the date and appointment was made, I started second guessing myself. I kept asking myself am I doing the right thing or do I want to keep Mohawk here for my own selfish reasons. I decided that it was time to end his suffering so he could run free across the Rainbow Bridge. I have to admit I felt like an executioner (like I was killing my boy). In fact, it was DM that did this to him. On that day, I whispered into Mohawks ear (through many tears), that I love him and that I will fight for him and a cure for DM until I take my last breath. That is when he went peacefully in my arms. This was the most hardest and unselfish thing I have ever done in my life. There is not a day that goes by that I do not miss him. I loved him with everything I had. When he passed; he took a chunk of my heart with him. I know that he picked out these two girls for us. Till we meet again at the Rainbow Bridge. Mohawk I love you forever and miss you every day. I cannot believe it has already been a year.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:24:59 +0000
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